one provided by a dead NFS server.
Finally ``path_openat()`` is used for the ``open()`` system call; it
-contains, in support functions starting with "``do_last()``", all the
+contains, in support functions starting with "``open_last_lookups()``", all the
complexity needed to handle the different subtleties of O_CREAT (with
or without O_EXCL), final "``/``" characters, and trailing symbolic
links. We will revisit this in the final part of this series, which
-focuses on those symbolic links. "``do_last()``" will sometimes, but
+focuses on those symbolic links. "``open_last_lookups()``" will sometimes, but
not always, take ``i_rwsem``, depending on what it finds.
Each of these, or the functions which call them, need to be alert to
successive symlinks until one is found that doesn't point to another
symlink.
-This case is handled by the relevant caller of ``link_path_walk()``, such as
-``path_lookupat()`` using a loop that calls ``link_path_walk()``, and then
-handles the final component. If the final component is a symlink
-that needs to be followed, then ``trailing_symlink()`` is called to set
-things up properly and the loop repeats, calling ``link_path_walk()``
-again. This could loop as many as 40 times if the last component of
-each symlink is another symlink.
-
-The various functions that examine the final component and possibly
-report that it is a symlink are ``lookup_last()``, ``mountpoint_last()``
-and ``do_last()``, each of which use the same convention as
-``walk_component()`` of returning ``1`` if a symlink was found that needs
-to be followed.
-
-Of these, ``do_last()`` is the most interesting as it is used for
-opening a file. Part of ``do_last()`` runs with ``i_rwsem`` held and this
-part is in a separate function: ``lookup_open()``.
-
-Explaining ``do_last()`` completely is beyond the scope of this article,
-but a few highlights should help those interested in exploring the
-code.
-
-1. Rather than just finding the target file, ``do_last()`` needs to open
+This case is handled by relevant callers of ``link_path_walk()``, such as
+``path_lookupat()``, ``path_openat()`` using a loop that calls ``link_path_walk()``,
+and then handles the final component by calling ``open_last_lookups()`` or
+``lookup_last()``. If it is a symlink that needs to be followed,
+``open_last_lookups()`` or ``lookup_last()`` will set things up properly and
+return the path so that the loop repeats, calling
+``link_path_walk()`` again. This could loop as many as 40 times if the last
+component of each symlink is another symlink.
+
+Of the various functions that examine the final component,
+``open_last_lookups()`` is the most interesting as it works in tandem
+with ``do_open()`` for opening a file. Part of ``open_last_lookups()`` runs
+with ``i_rwsem`` held and this part is in a separate function: ``lookup_open()``.
+
+Explaining ``open_last_lookups()`` and ``do_open()`` completely is beyond the scope
+of this article, but a few highlights should help those interested in exploring
+the code.
+
+1. Rather than just finding the target file, ``do_open()`` is used after
+ ``open_last_lookup()`` to open
it. If the file was found in the dcache, then ``vfs_open()`` is used for
this. If not, then ``lookup_open()`` will either call ``atomic_open()`` (if
the filesystem provides it) to combine the final lookup with the open, or